Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 116471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Samuel’s eyes flashed with anger. “I’m your husband. I’ll take you. I’m in control.”
I pressed my lips together, fighting an onslaught of emotions as he carried me down the stairs.
“Samuel—”
“I’m fine! We don’t need Danilo.”
I shook my head again. “You aren’t fine!”
His gait was steady despite the heavy note of alcohol on his breath and the slightly feverish look in his eyes. Maybe he could drive. But a warning voice in my head reminded me of the past. Fear gripped me.
“Samuel—”
He put me down on the passenger seat and buckled me up. “We’ll be quicker if I drive than if we wait for an ambulance or for your brother to arrive. We need to get you to a doctor as soon as possible.”
He was right but still…
I touched my belly, focusing on my baby.
Samuel got in the car and started the engine. My stomach constricted. Hazy memories from a crash long ago that changed my life resurfaced. My bodyguard had also smelled of alcohol. It hadn’t been the first time he’d been drunk on the job. I had noticed the stench before, but he’d never had trouble driving before.
A vivid image of the car swerving to the side, of a truck heading our way, and the lights blinding me shot through my head. After that, everything was black. It was the moment that changed my life forever.
I swallowed hard. My instincts screamed at me not to let Samuel drive. But if I called Danilo or Pietro, they would know something was wrong, and they’d figure out that Samuel had a problem with alcohol.
I couldn’t betray Samuel like that. Right?
Samuel drove too fast.
I clutched the seat, fear clogging my throat. “Samuel, slow down.”
“You need help,” he muttered.
He drove way too fast into a curve, and the car swerved toward oncoming traffic. The headlights of a car blinded me. I screamed, raw fear ripping the sound from the depths of my body. Not again.
The car jerked to the side, barely missing the other car. I was flung against the door, then we jolted to a stop.
Samuel breathed harshly.
“Emma? Emma, are you okay?”
I blinked, trying to breathe in and out as a myriad of images I hadn’t remembered up until that point flooded my mind. Being stuck in a wreck, my bodyguard trying to talk to me, the acute pain in my head. Blood everywhere.
Samuel touched my shoulder. “Emma?”
I unbuckled myself. We were on the side of the road, parked at a bus stop. Samuel shook me slightly until my eyes focused on him. “Emma, say something.”
He had a cut on his temple where he must have hit the side of the car. Blood was trickling down his face.
The other car’s driver got out of his car and gestured wildly at Samuel.
“I’m okay,” I pressed out.
Samuel nodded, then he grabbed his phone. “Dad, I need you to pick Emma up quickly.”
An ambulance arrived before Pietro did. Samuel sat silently beside me, ignoring the other driver who tried to argue with him.
“I’m riding in the ambulance,” I told Samuel.
“I should come with you.”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted that. I knew once the shock had lessened, I’d be furious. Not just at Samuel but also at me for getting into a car with a drunk driver. I should have known better. He should have too. But he was in denial of his problem, and I wasn’t.
Samuel regarded me. “Or I could drive there. I can’t leave my car here.”
“You should ride with your dad,” I said as the paramedics helped me onto the stretcher. I explained that the blood on my nightgown wasn’t from the crash, but I wasn’t sure if they believed me.
“It’s too dangerous for you to ride alone,” Samuel said with a frown.
“Getting in a car with you was too dangerous.”
I swallowed hard, guilt burning a hot trail through my insides. The disappointed and hurt look in Emma’s eyes almost killed me. I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before I told the ambulance driver to be extra careful and explained the consequences if he wasn’t.
Dad arrived when the ambulance pulled away.
I felt almost sober by now. I had definitely drunk a bit more than I should have tonight. It had been a shitty day.
Dad touched my shoulder. “What happened?”
The usual lie lay on the tip of my tongue, but I was fucking tired of lying. I’d put so much energy into deceiving Emma…and she knew. “I drove drunk today and lost control of the car.”
Dad frowned. “You should have called. Come on. I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
I sank down in the passenger seat.
When I rubbed my face, it came away bloody.
I hadn’t even noticed I was injured. That was why the paramedic wanted to take a look at me.
“Has this happened before?” Dad asked carefully.
“Me driving drunk?” I asked with a hint of dark humor.